This is the first Mr. and Mrs. North mystery novel by Richard and Frances Lockridge and was published in 1940. It would start a Mr. and Mrs. North mystery franchise that would include numerous books, a play, a movie, more than a decade on the radio, and two seasons on television.

Pamela North gets permission from her landlady to host a party in a vacant apartment upstairs. However, the Norths were shocked to find a naked body in the bathtub. (I guess the Lockridges figured if it worked for Dorothy Sayers…)

The police are called in and Lieutenant Weygand of the NYPD proceeds to investigate. One of the in the most surprising thing about the book is that for most of it, the Norths have very little to do with the proceedings. The bulk of the book is Weygand carrying on an investigation, making very little progress, and then coming for a visit to the Norths, during which Pam gives Weygand a helpful clue or hint to carry the investigation forward.

The Norths had actually been created by Mister Lockridge for some light comedy short stories and this book tosses them into the middle of a murder mystery, so that’s why they aren’t sleuthing.

The story avoids being stupid or annoying at any point, but at the same time seems to ride a tide of okayness throughout. The only annoying thing is the Lockridges’ habit of expositing dialogue and by that I don’t mean something that summarizes some information that’s too tedious to review. (ex: She spent four hours discussing her hat.) But rather information that could just as easily be quoted, (ex: He told her that he would be back tomorrow.) They do this a lot.

However, the book gets really good in the last couple of chapters when Pam decides to throw a dinner party for the suspects and finally realizes who the murderer is. It was a surprisingly tense and suspenseful climax that’s a really nice payoff for the entire book.

Overall, it’s not bad. While all the supporting characters are flat, the leads are enjoyable enough. If you listened to the radio show or watched the TV shows and were curious about how the Mr. and Mrs. North mystery franchise got started, this will give you the answer. Still, I have to imagine that given the sheer number of books in this series that there were better books in it than this one.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5

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